On a hill more than two hundred meters away from Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others, hidden by chaotic rocks and red pines, a short figure was hiding, gazing at the location of the "Old Task Force" and the Crimson off-road vehicle.

He looked like a seven or eight-year-old child, but his hair was already sparse, and the corners of his eyes, mouth, and forehead had some wrinkles that couldn't be concealed.

It was as if the head of a middle-aged man had been forcibly placed on the neck of a child, creating an overall sense of disharmony.

He was none other than Professor Qin, who was in charge of matters related to Gesterbourg.

Back then, the price he paid was "stunted physical development," and he thought he had gotten a good deal because his puberty had already ended at the time. He was eighteen years old, so what development was there to talk about?

But as time went on, he finally understood why his mentor had such a strange look on his face when he told him about his awakening process.

His mentor didn't know what changes would occur if the degree of "stunted physical development" deepened, but he kept telling him that those seemingly harmless costs often made you pay more.

Professor Qin's development was not only stagnant but also regressing. After entering the "Mind Corridor," this situation became even more serious, to the point where his body now looked only seven or eight years old.

What pained Professor Qin the most was that reality wasn't a novel. There were no immortals or angels. Such regression was bound to be accompanied by various diseases; otherwise, how could a normal person "shrink" for no reason?

This caused him immense pain.

This was also why he was eager to become a member of the "Council of Professors":

He hoped to establish contact with the powerhouses of the New World, such as the "Vice President," and receive their guidance to find the door to the "New World" in the "Mind Corridor" as soon as possible.

As long as he entered the "New World," he could abandon his current body!

Although he would still be affected by the negative effects of the price, and his consciousness would only be as strong as that of a seven or eight-year-old, and the figure he manifested would still be his current appearance, at least he wouldn't have to be entangled in the terrible pain caused by physical degradation.

Professor Qin had tried genetic modification in an attempt to save his body, but this was undoubtedly a failure.

His only gain was that his eyesight became very strong, like Qiao Chu's, except that he chose to keep a low profile and kept his eyes a common dark brown color instead of changing them to a conspicuous gold.

At this time, although he couldn't hear what Jiang Baimian, Shang Jianyao, and the others were saying, he could see their actions and discovered that they were either finding the grenade launcher or wearing military exoskeletons and changing their ammunition accordingly.

This made Professor Qin suspect that the enemy wanted to carry out indiscriminate bombing in order to force him out.

He wasn't sure if the "Old Task Force's" ammunition reserves could support such behavior, so he had to assume that they could, rather than hoping for a stroke of luck.

Professor Qin, with a solemn expression, reacted first by retreating in a direction the enemy couldn't see because he had acted a bit on his own this time.

The order given to Professor Qin by the Eighth Research Institute's "Council of Professors" was to lead the target team to the ice plains. After they were far away from Gesterbourg, he would join forces with the two special envoys who had been sent to reinforce, forming a siege.

In this way, they could avoid the possible intervention of the one sleeping in Gesterbourg.

As for why the "Council of Professors" didn't let him directly invite the powerhouses of the "New World," or ask the "Vice President" and the others to descend remotely, to deal with this enemy team that they had been chasing for a long time with the attitude of a lion hunting a rabbit, Professor Qin actually knew the reason:

After the last incident, "Doctor" hadn't appeared for a long time, hadn't issued any orders, and it was rumored that he was still in fear.

Therefore, after discovering that the enemy was prepared, Professor Qin decisively abandoned the idea of ​​reading their memories and implanting corresponding scenes, choosing to look for other opportunities.

And that one's power, even the members of the Eighth Research Institute's "Council of Professors," probably wouldn't dare to use it unless it was a matter of life and death.

This very likely brought backlash!

Professor Qin previously felt that his and Qiao Chu's combination could complement each other well, avoiding certain factors that might cause accidents, so he decided to act in advance in this hilly area, catching the enemy off guard, and demonstrating his abilities to the "Vice President" and the others.

--This place was almost three kilometers away from the edge of Gesterbourg, and even further away from the ancient castle. As long as they made a quick decision and didn't cause too much commotion, the one sleeping in Gesterbourg would definitely not notice, let alone make the right response. And the team that left the city was likely still immersed in the illusion of being in a safe area with sufficient protection.

What Professor Qin hoped for was that Qiao Chu would charm those people, preventing them from recalling scenes related to the Times Disciple, so that he could silently and calmly invade their brains and implant predetermined memories.

After that, he would enjoy a tragic scene of mutual slaughter from a distance as an observer.

By that time, the final "winner" would also choose to commit suicide because they had made a big mistake and detonated the "bomb" buried in their memories.

But what Professor Qin didn't expect was that Qiao Chu, who had previously been invincible, had actually met her nemesis.

That person wasn't charmed!

Was he still human?

Professor Qin could only think that the enemy had made corresponding preparations in a gambling manner, targeting the few special envoys they knew, to minimize the impact of Qiao Chu's charm.

This led to his time being tight, failing to complete the predetermined implantation, and also led to him losing an assistant, forcing him to consider withdrawing.

Although he would inevitably be blamed by the "Council of Professors" if he retreated now, as long as he was still alive, he would still have a chance to turn the tables after entering the ice plains and joining the reinforcements, and he could still redeem himself.

Professor Qin's mind raced, and he quickly made a decision:

Retreating was definitely necessary, but retreating in a panic and blindly retreating might not be a good thing.

He was hiding here now, and the enemy couldn't find him, but once he retreated in the direction of the ice plains and made a move, he might not be able to hide it from that robot.

After all, he didn't know what modules that robot had been equipped with, whether it had remote detection capabilities, and he couldn't read the other party's memories.

Also, he had to go to the place where he hid his car first. It was impossible to enter the ice plains on foot. That would be wishing for death, and in this way, it would take a lot of time and the risk of exposure would be high.

Professor Qin's plan was to advance as a means of retreat.

This was a strategy that often appeared in various wars in the Old World: launch an attack first, suppress the enemy, and then seize the opportunity to retreat; otherwise, the entire team might collapse under the enemy's pursuit, and it would be better to stand firm.

Moreover, Professor Qin had suffered from physical torment for a long time, and his character had already become a bit extreme. The act of launching a preemptive attack with Qiao Chu was itself a gamble.

Now he wanted to gamble again.

If he really completely suppressed the enemy and had a chance, he wouldn't mind turning the feigned attack into a real fight and solving the problem on the spot.

If he didn't achieve that effect, he would naturally still choose to withdraw.

Professor Qin then picked up the glasses that were placed on the ground beside him and put them on the bridge of his nose.

This came from the "Shattered Mirror" domain and could bring illusions to the target.

If it hadn't been for Professor Qin secretly helping with this prop, affecting Genaver, it would have been difficult to achieve such a good effect relying solely on Qiao Chu's "Electromagnetic Interference," which hadn't reached the depths of the "Mind Corridor."

At this time, Professor Qin also planned to use it to deal with that robot.

The negative price of this prop was fear of water, like being afraid of water like having rabies, so Professor Qin would definitely find an opportunity to take off his glasses during the retreat, lest he be frightened by puddles, streams, and so on, and collapse on the spot or go crazy and turn back.

Immediately afterward, he took out a gorgeous, classical-style pen from his small weapon backpack.

This prop was called "Pen of Hobby" and could create a hobby for a certain number of people within a certain range. The priority of this hobby would surpass most things, making the targets take satisfying their hobby as the leading principle of their next action.

The price of the "Pen of Hobby" was "anger," making it very easy for people to lose their minds.

Fortunately, Professor Qin's body had degenerated severely, and even if he was angry, he couldn't sustain it for too long, giving him limited response, which gave him a certain degree of self-control.

After looking at the "Old Task Force" who were wearing exoskeletons, changing the type of grenades, and preparing to spread out around, each responsible for an area, Professor Qin no longer hesitated and made the classical pen in his hand reflect a faint red light.

He created a hobby for the humans in the range—the hobby of wanting to take a nap when blowing the refreshing morning breeze and basking in the warm sunshine in the suburbs.

Without bothering to look at the enemy's reaction, he made the glasses on the bridge of his nose flash with subtle light.

He was distorting environmental information and creating illusions for the robot!

Seeing Genaver stop moving, Professor Qin quickly shifted his gaze back to that group of humans.

They fell to the ground in disarray, and even the wooden statue fell to the side.

Just at this moment, Professor Qin saw a person struggling to stand up, even though his eyes were closed tightly and he was drowsy, he was still struggling to stand up.

ps: Seeking a guaranteed monthly ticket at the beginning of the month~